Help door handle replacement

i am stuck on the drivers handle. I have had two FJ cruisers and these handles are pretty much the same. I replaced those and I have the passenger side done in a few minutes. The drivers side will not line up with the bolt. I have tried until enraged over two days. I’m trying to avoid the walk of shame into the dealer but this is the key side. It can be unlocked with a screwdriver at this point. I even tried to put the ugly chrome one back on thinking maybe the black one was molded wrong. The bolt will not start threading. It seems to be just to the right of the hole or something. Anyone run into this during replacement?

 

I’ll check that as son I get home. Thank you so much. I hope that’s it.

 

Here is what it looks like. I wiggled it and seems like that is where it should be. How does it look to y’all?

 

That’s exactly what I just did. Thank you so much. It’s all good now. No walk of shame for me

 

I had the same problem when I swapped out my chrome for black...it took longer to do the driver's door than the other three put together.

 

Lesson learned. Thank god for this forum.

 

Good to see you got it.

If you had been inferno I would have just swapped mine with you so you didn’t have to buy the flat black handle.

 

Steve to the rescue! Nice work buddy

 

This thread saved my butt too. We had the exact same problem on two of four doors. Thanks for the explanation.

 

This happened to me on the weekend. After 1 hr of comparing I realized that the small interior black plastic piece was off. All I did was to push it and it snapped into place. This happens when you try to wiggle the handle piece and the screw is still inside. To avoid this you have to unscrew it all the way and then pull it a little bit before pulling the plastic handle piece.

 

I would be curious to see that actually

 

Add another one to the list of people saved by this thread, thank you very much!!!

 

So can I start trying to screw the lock piece back a bit to get it to start threading then push the other part of the handle in place? I’ve tried everything and can’t get it

 

I had an issue of the driver door. Took 20 minutes to figure it out. Then 20 minutes to do the other 3 doors total. Glad it worked out for you.

 

I was ready to go nurs until I found this. You guys rock!!! Thank you so much!!!

 

10 min job. Plenty of YouTube vids

 

Alright so I’m having the same problem I’ve manipulated the inside plastic multiple ways and nothing is working any tips?

 

Look at this whole thread and look at it again. I recently had to refer back to it when the skin of my handle came unscrewed. Fought it for an hour, took a break, looked up this thread again and it was in in a few minutes with the door back together.

 

Update:
After researching for a while and almost loosing my mind I have found the issue and were all done.

 

I had the same problem with my drivers door. We fought it for a while then the screw fell out and I could finally see what was wrong. Used an awl to realign the tab that the screw goes in, put the screw back in and Bam the handle was installed.

 

Thank you thank you thank you... thought I was gonna be driving around with no handle.. after 30 mins getting poured rain on I found this post... reached my fingers inside and pulled till I heard the snap.. threaded right in! Man this site is a life saver! Much appreciated

 

Doing handle swap on my crewmax Wednesday, it's starting to sound like I should do the drivers door FIRST then the rest will be easy

 

If ever stick refer back to this thread. It’s a lifesaver

 

I referred to this thread when I swapped my handles and it was a life safer. I did notice a unique problem that I wanted to address for future swappers. The rubber gasket seal on two of my handles slipped off, and when I went to 'seat' the new handles in place, the gaskets slid forward out of place. Some trusty loctite to the rescue.

 

Thanks. Lock cylinder was also misaligned for me during my test install. Snapped back the black plastic piece and able to re-install. Thanks for the help.

 

What color black are you all getting? Classic, attitude or matte textured?

 

I don't even want to admit how long I've been messing with this, but I just found this thread and 30 seconds and one pop later I'm good to go...thank you.

 

I’m running into whatever the issue is, but it seems the solution posted by “Steve” is no longer in this thread. Can someone clue me in???

 

You have to make sure the plastic in the door didn't shift

 

Same thing here! 1.5 hrs of wanting to break this shit. Read thread 1 min. Thanks guys!